Ben Ericson

Agreed. In my experience, lenses become visually softer in the view finder when the sharpness is being effected by the prism. Depending on the amount of experience you have with the system, this is potentially easy to spot. I've seen F3.3 as being the official f stop where softening occurs. The effect is more pronounced on wider lenses. For example, the Century 3.5mm or 5.9mm... The Kern RX lenses are the best for the Bolex. The 26mm 1.1, 10mm 1.6, and the 18 - 86 being my favorites.

I mistakenly posted that thinking this was about modding a Bolex. I was mistaken. That type of light leak is from loading a S16 Bolex camera in bright daylight. Check the edges on any standard 16mm clip or Super 16mm clip, it always has that same amount of burn. Not sure about the vignetting, as I don't own the Kern 16 - 100. I do know that the vignetting is never even on the wider Century lenses. The weird notch at the edge of the gate sucks.

You need those Kern RX lenses! I do agree cropping R16 with a higher quality scan can look really really nice.

"Dr. Bolex" does them. I had Arthur convert one for me in May of last year. No idea what his availability is. He was also nice enough to spend a half over going over details and talking shop. https://www.drbolex.com I sold it to a friend of mine and he shot B cam on this. All the shots with the Century 5.7mm. https://vimeo.com/468406581

I'm going to do some additional tests but I more or less solved the problem. I looked at some old regular 16mm scans of mine that I assume were loaded in similar conditions and lined them up. These are both at around 2:40 on a 3 minute roll. Interesting how much larger the S16 negative truly is. It's not exactly a small increase. I do love the edge to edge sharpness on regular 16.

I'm going to run another couple of rolls. I will load and unload in the dark and I'll try using the lid from my other Rex 4 to see if that makes a difference! I suspect since it only happens at the beginning or the end of the roll, it has to do with the loading and or unloading process. Thank you!

This was based on my assumption that light was getting in through the middle of the core, not the outer edge. If I shine a light through an empty spool, light definitely can enter through the center of the core. It seems less sealed than the edge.

Interesting. The only thing I can think of is the the light is getting in through the middle of the core. This would explain the light leak at the beginning or the end, (depending on if I unload or load in bright light.) Loading in bright light would mean the end of the roll of would have light leaks , unloading in bright light would make the beginning of the roll have light leaks. Is that making sense? Filter is definitely fitted. I always look through the viewfinder, even when shooting on a tripod.

I am hoping someone can help me diagnose this problem. I am having an issue with a light leak on the right side of the frame on my S16mm Bolex. My first roll of 50d has it a lot in the beginning, but starts to disappear midway through the roll. The second roll kind of does the opposite... It starts out clean and then starts to burn a LOT towards the end of the roll. I have uploaded both rolls with time code for reference. Both 100' rolls are 16mm film. Any help would be greatly appreciated! https://vimeo.com/541142453/f63cfdea29

I've sent 16mm and 35mm all over the country for years. If it's one or two rolls, I will send it priority mail USPS. If I shoot 1000' feet or more, I will usually ship it Fedex 2-Day or Overnight. I've never had an issue. I think the best thing you can do, is to communicate with the lab directly and try to time it well for a quick turn around.

I think what you're seeing is the difference in F stop. I'm guessing you're shooting between F4 and F8, where as Webster looks like he's shooting between F2 and F2.8? You will also see more vignetting on close focus, less on infinity... If I remember correctly. I own the preset version and definitely get more noticeable vignetting wide open.

Very cool. Do you know who that rig belongs to or if someone makes that grip that fits the Bolex shutter release. I'm curious, have you had bad results with the stability of the K3 when just shooting with the pistol grip and the viewfinder? I've had very good results with the Bolex and the Bolex Pistol grip.

Wow, the stock jumped from 2.10 to 33.20 in 5 days. Nolan just made a killing. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/28/kodak-soars-another-40percent-after-trump-announces-deal-to-manufacture-generic-drug-ingredients.html

Sure, but it just shows that people of all skill levels often take pride in their choice of format, whether it be the iPhone, Alexa, or Film. You could maybe just say that when any filmmaker tells you about their short film, chances are that it won't be great.

Okay. It sounded like you were denying the popularity of film and were citing your own personal experience on set as proof. All I did was provide an example that proves how popular it is at the moment. The biggest directors and large artists are shooting on it. Of course digital is cheaper. Nobody is going to argue with you about that... Oddly this is the first thing I thought of. ? I heard it did pretty well! https://nofilmschool.com/2015/11/quentin-tarantino-hateful-eight-65mm-ultra-panavision-70mm